December 4-8, 2023

 

Happy December!

This week we continued learning about the Festival of Hanukkah.

Students learned some interesting facts about the holiday which helped them to acquire new words and improve their vocabulary.

Some of the facts are:

• Hanukkah lasts for eight nights to commemorate how long the holy light burned
• Each night we light one more candle on the Menorah
• The word "Hanukkah" means "dedication"
• Dreidel comes in different sizes and tends to be made of wood, plastic or clay. Each letter on the dreidel means a different move while playing the game

We carried on with an amalgamation of 5 senses topic with Hanukkah, and students experienced it through different activities.

We made beautiful Menorahs from wooden sticks with pretended candles that our students can safely light for Hanukkah.

In Science, we explored density of water versus oil and had fun making oobleck. 

This week we looked for creative and innovative ways to dress up our classroom doors for Christmas. Students were happy and eager to lend a helping hand and get their imagination run wild!

The Magic of Christmas Fundraiser

This holiday season, McKenzie Towne students and staff are encouraged to support The Magic of Christmas. 

Every Christmas Eve, The Magic of Christmas loads up Calgary Transit buses that are magically transformed into “reindeer buses”, with hundreds of gifts and volunteers dressed as Santa and his elves.  Then they deliver Christmas spirit into the homes and hearts of those who need it most.  The school will be collecting until December 18.  Please bring in new, unwrapped donation items (not food) and place them in the boxes located in the front foyer. 

Please see the attached wish list for ideas of items to donate.

For more information or to make a monetary donation, please visit

https://www.themagicofchristmas.org/

Thanks for your support!

Fun Lunch

Our next Fun Lunch will be on December 20.

Fun Lunch is only for grades 1-4 and our EES students. Orders are accepted 1 week prior to the day.

• Go to healthyhunger.ca

• Log into your existing account or create a new one.

• Add your child’s information in the “add child” box – name, province, city, school, grade and class.

• All Fun Lunches will then populate – select the Order Now button!

Upcoming Dates

December 8 - NO SCHOOL - PD Day

December 19 - Festive Sweater Day

December 20 - Fun Lunch - Boston Pizza

December 20 - Caroling at 1:15 pm 

December 21 - Pajama Day 

December 25 - January 5 - NO SCHOOL Winter Break

Have a fantastic weekend!

Ms. Emma, Ms. Swapna and Ms. Veronika

December 1, 2023

 Hello Families, 

Students are getting excited for December to arrive and so are we! 

 

This week we talked about another festival of lights i.e. Hanukkah. Students understood that it is a Jewish holiday that lasts for eight nights and usually occurs in December. We read some stories and sang the “spin a dreidel” song and collaborated it with Language Arts, Math and Science concepts. 

 

In Art, we decorated David’s star with blue and white little stick-on jewels. 

Science lessons involved expansion on last week's learning around sinking and floating, as well as making fake snow and a melting snowman experiment. It was messy, but a really fun learning opportunity!

 

For cooking, students loved rolling out (blue) vanilla frosting on cookies, decorating them and of course, devouring them! 

 

*It’s Here! Digital Decodable Library Resource. This collection of digital decodable books (aligning with the CBE Scope & Sequence) is now available. The digital library provides the opportunity for beginning readers to access these reading materials. The materials will continue to be updated over time, so check back often!*

Important Notes: 

 

-A reminder that next Friday, December 8th is a PD day and there will be no school for students.   

 

-A reminder that if you have any library books at home that have been taken out from MTS, please remember to return them next week. 

- December 19 - Ugly Holiday Sweater Day (wear your favourite holiday sweater) 

- December 20 - Fun Lunch - Boston Pizza 

- December 25 - January 5 - NO SCHOOL Winter Break! 

 

Thank you and have a great weekend everybody! 

Ms. Emma, Ms. Swapna and Ms. Veronika 

November 20 - 23, 2023

Hello EES families!

Thank you for attending our recent parent-teacher conference. We appreciate you taking the time to meet with us and hope that our conference was able to provide you with some valuable insight into your child's progress at school.

In case you couldn’t make it and you would like to set up an alternate meeting time or phone call next week, please reach out.

This week at school:

Regardless of the time of year and what part of Canada we live in, it is always important to share Indigenous perspectives in our classrooms. So, we tried to incorporate activities in Math and Science revolving around Metis week (November 12-18, 2023). In Language arts, we read the story ‘The Giving Tree’: A retelling of a traditional Metis story. This charming tale emphasizes Metis’ core values and beliefs including strength, kindness, courage, tolerance, honesty, respect, love, sharing, caring, balance, patience, and most of all, the important connection with the Creator and Mother Earth. The link is provided below:

https://youtu.be/r45Whex-0Bg?si=ixnqW_gvTEzxooQS 

Our students love to indulge in sensory play which encourages learning through exploration, curiosity, problem solving and creativity. Activities like painting, crafting and building Lego are also liked by many.

Upcoming Dates

· November 29: Fun Lunch (Subway)

· December 8: PD Day (no school for students)

· December 20: Fun Lunch (Boston Pizza)

· December 22: Last day of school

· December 23 - January 7: Winter Break

· January 8: First day back to school

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ms. Swapna, Ms. Emma and Ms. Veronika

November 17, 2023

 Hello everyone,

Even though it was a short week at school, EES has been very busy!

We have been engaging in some learning about Metis Week, which we incorporated to our morning meetings, art, and cooking lessons.  The students created Metis dot art using paint, and they also made some delicious bannock to taste!  Each class will continue learning about Metis culture next week in their lessons.  

Students continued to work hard in their math and language arts lessons, and wrapped up our learning around Diwali.  Everyone really enjoyed the stories, art and food that they had the opportunity to experience during this unit.

It continues to be cold and wet outside, so please continue to send in warm layers and extra clothing for students to change into in case they get wet.

Important Dates:

November 20 - 24 - Book Fair (Families can attend the Book Fair with their child when they come to school for Parent/Teacher Conferences

November 23 & 24 – Parent/Teacher Conferences (Please keep an eye out for online registrations. NO school for students on Friday November 24)

November 29 - Fun Lunch - Subway

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ms. Emma, Ms. Veronika & Ms. Swapna

November 9, 2023

 Hello Families,

Even though it has been a short week in EES, it has been very busy! 

The students have been learning about Diwali, the Festival of Lights.  We have been thinking about Diwali in our literacy, science and math groups, as well as in our art lessons.  EES has been exploring shadows and light to make real world connections to this learning.  Each student had the opportunity to paint a Diya, a traditional oil lamp.  They turned out beautiful, so bright and festive!  We had help from the Gr. 4 Leadership students to create these pieces of art. 

McKenzie Towne School also spent time thinking about Remembrance Day.  Many of our students went to the assembly, which was hosted by some of the Grade 4 students.  We are very proud of how respectful and calm our students were in the gym, especially during the moment of silence. 

The weather is currently very mild, but is likely to turn cold very soon.  Please continue to send warm outerwear, and a change of clothes in case your child gets wet from the snow. 

Important Dates:

November 9 - 14 - NO SCHOOL - Fall Break

November 15 - Picture Retake Day

November 20 - 24 - Book Fair (Families can attend the book fair with their child during Parent/Teacher conferences)

November 23 & 24 – Parent/Teacher Conferences (NO school for students on Friday November 24) More information to come.

November 29 - Fun Lunch - Subway

Have a fantastic fall break!

Ms. Emma, Ms. Veronika & Ms. Swapna

 Yay! We made it a full week!

Our students love reading books and listening to stories. It is our constant endeavour to expose them to more and more storybooks. And we have some exciting news for you!! The Book fair is back the week of November 20-24th!

Students will be given a chance to view the fair on Tuesday and Wednesday of that week. They also will be be able to purchase books/items from the fair on Thursday. November 23d if you choose. 

The families will have the opportunity to visit the Book fair during Parent-teacher conferences on Thursday and Friday, November 23rd and 24th.

This week, some of the students enjoyed celebrating Halloween and dressing up. Everyone was very excited to show theirs and see others costumes.

We have started to learn about Diwali and finished this exciting week with making delicious coconut ladoos in our cooking class. The recipe was quick, easy and liked by most. 

Our next Fun Lunch will be on November 29.

To register:

- Go to healthyhunger.ca

- Log into your existing account or create a new one

- Add your child's information in the "add child" box

- All Fun lunches will then populate - select the Order Now Button

 

Have a fantastic weekend!

Ms. Emma, Ms. Swapna and Ms. Veronika